1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, a printer, a consumable material holder for the printer (hereafter called a printer consumable material holder or a media pack), and a digital camera having the printer.
2. Related Background Art
Recently, digital cameras have become widespread, and the demand to print and output an image taken by the digital camera on the spot has thus risen. To meet such the demand, there has been developed a digital camera-cum-printer (or a digital camera with a built-in printer) which has a means for storing image information taken by the camera and a printer for visibly printing the stored image information.
As a configuration to supply printing media (i.e., sheets) to the printer for the digital camera, there are the configuration that a sheet cassette filled with sheets supplied from an independent sheet package is mounted to the printer, or the configuration that a sheet packet precomposed as a cassette is directly inserted into the main body of the printer.
However, it is supposed that kinds of printing media supplied by the sheet cassette or the sheet package (the printer consumable material holder or the media pack) are miscellaneous. On the other hand, if an image process is not performed in accordance with the kind of medium, high-quality printing can not be performed for the taken image and the like. Namely, even if an image processing system has been structured on the printer side in correspondence with a kind of printing medium, it is supposed that such an image processing system can not cope with other kinds of printing media, whereby a user's selectable width for the printer is resultingly narrowed.
Further, even in a case where the image processing system is structured to be able to cope with different kinds of printing media, if the kind of printing medium supplied on the printer side can not be appropriately discriminated, the user must perform a complicated operation to judge which kind of printing medium to use and notify the printer side of such a judged result through some interface. Then, if the user erroneously judges the printing medium to be used, an image process inappropriate for the judged and selected printing medium is performed and the inappropriately processed printing medium is then subjected to printing, whereby the printing media are uselessly consumed.
Further, the conventional digital camera stores therein taken images of several image sizes inherently determined to each camera. For example, taken images of 2048×1536 pixels, 1024×768 pixels, 640×480 pixels, and the like are stored. The taken image stored has an information size (including aspect ratio (i.e., ratio of longitudinal size and lateral size)) substantially the same as that of an image displayed on one or both a viewfinder and an LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor. However, there is a kind of digital camera which changes the aspect ratio of a taken image according to the image size thereof and stores the image of the changed aspect ratio. For example, a taken image whose aspect ratio has been changed according to the image size of 1800×1200 pixels, 1280×1024 pixels, 640×480 pixels, or the like is stored in this digital camera. Further, there is a kind of recent digital camera which stores a taken image of an aspect ratio (3:2), which is the same as that of a silver bromide photograph, in response to user's designation.
On the other hand, ordinarily, an image taken by the digital camera is captured by a host apparatus such as a personal computer or the like. Then, the captured image is subjected to enlargement/reduction and trimming to be conformed with a user-designated printing sheet size and a printer-inherent printable area, in accordance with printing applications. Particularly, if it is intended to print the taken image entirely on the printable area of a designated printing sheet, the printing is often performed in a state that either the information at the top and bottom of the image or the information at the right and left of the image has been deleted.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-108005 proposes a means which causes, in a printing system which directly connects a digital camera and a printer without any independent personal computer, the digital camera to display a layout image in case of printing a photographed image.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-19125 proposes a mode in a printing system which directly connects a digital camera and a printer without any independent personal computer. In this mode, a printing mask pattern has been previously provided, and this mask pattern and image data from which the area masked by this mask pattern has been eliminated are synthesized and displayed.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-257427 proposes control in a digital camera having a seal printing function. Namely, under this control, image data of a taken subject and image data of the background or foreground of this subject are synthesized, and the synthesized image data is displayed.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-18033 proposes a display control means which displays, on a display means, printing image data received from a printer by a communication means.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-103097 proposes a storage means which is provided in a printer using thermosensitive recording sheets. This storage means stores plural different-sized image data respectively corresponding to the plural kinds of thermosensitive recording sheets.
However, conventionally, although the aspect ratio of display image information taken by the digital camera and displayed on the viewfinder or the LCD monitor is substantially the same as that of image information stored on a storage medium such as a compact flash card or the like, the size of such the image information is not necessarily the same as that of printing image information. Since the many kinds of digital cameras store the image information in the aspect ratio of 4:3, if it is supposed that printing is performed with fullbleed on an A4 sheet whose aspect ratio is substantially 10:7, a part of the taken image is not always printed. When a series of user's operations of taking the image by the digital camera and then printing the taken image is supposed, a part of the image information at the time of photographing is deleted and printed irrespective of user's intention. The reason why such a printing operation unsuitable for the user's intention is performed is that printing information including information of a printing medium is difficult to be added to an image when this image was taken by the digital camera.
Further, there is a digital camera which assumes printing on a sheet with the same size as a silver bromide printing paper sheet and thus has a mode to store image data in the aspect ratio of 3:2 according to user's designation. However, such an aspect ratio is different from that of a display such as a viewfinder, and an LCD monitor and the like, and the range of the taken image is not indicated on the display, whereby it is very difficult for the user to judge a photographing range.
As described above, when the printed result is different from the user's intention, since it is necessary for the user to retake or rephotograph the once taken image, a load is imposed on the user. Further, if one image was taken in a remote place such as a travel destination or the like, it is very difficult for the user to retake the same image.